Lino Rodriguez v. United States

On September 16, 1969, Lino Rodriguez entered the United States from Mexico at the Port of Entry, San Ysidro, California, driving a 1960 Oldsmobile. Customs Agent McClain asked him “of what country are you a citizen?” The appellant, Rodriguez, replied that he was a citizen of the United States.

When the trunk of appellant’s car was opened, McClain observed “an unexplainable space in there of about six inches that normally isn’t in an automobile behind the rear seat”. Further inspection revealed a man, later identified as Heliodoro Montes Acevedo.

Rodriguez was charged in count one with smuggling an alien in violation of Title 8 U.S.C. § 1324 (a) (1); in count two with transporting an alien in violation of Title 8 U.S.C. § 1324 (a) (2), and in count three with falsely representing himself to be a United States citizen, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. § 911 . The jury found him guilty on all three counts and the district judge sentenced him to the custody of the Attorney General for five years on count one, five years on count two, and three years on count three, the sentences to run concurrently.

Appellant specifies as error that the evidence was insufficient to support a…